New Vrindaban Brijabasi Spirit

ECO-Vrindaban Board Meeting Minutes 07/08/2018

Mission Statement: ECO-Vrindaban promotes cow protection, local agriculture, and above all, loving Krishna, as envisioned by Srila Prabhupada, ISKCON New Vrindaban’s Founder-Acharya.

Participating Directors: Anuttama, Chaitanya Mangala (chair), Jamuna Jivani (board secretary), Olivia, Ranaka, and Vraja.

Participating Advisors: Jaya Krsna, Kalakantha, and Kripamaya.

1. Ranaka’s Monthly Staff Report

Lalita Gopi

• Ananda Vidya is currently milking eight cows: Jamuna, Surabhi, Laxmi, Sita, Anjali, Sriya, Malati, and Subhadra. Lalita Gopi, Jitendra, Nil Govinda, and Vrindaban Priya have been assisting as well.
• The cows are producing approximately 30-32 gal of milk per day.
• Butter and yogurt production has continued with Ananda Vidya transforming the extra milk into 15 lb of butter, 15 gal of yogurt, and a half gallon of ghee on a weekly basis. This month he produced one (8” diameter x 3.5” high) wheel of Colby cheese.
• Subhadra gave birth to a healthy heifer calf named Jaya Sri on June 2nd.
• Usha is residing in Nandagram and will be due to calf in late August or early September
• The ISKCON North American Farm Conference took place on June 25-26 in Deland, Florida. Jamuna Jivani devi dasi and Lalita Gopi devi dasi attended on behalf of ECO-V.

Ray

• has been harvesting hay, while Joshua Rama has been hay raking ahead of the baler and Pippalada assisted with moving hay into the barn.
• 226 800-pound round bales have been harvested and stacked in the barn for storage in addition to the 250 bales from last year
• cleared the calf pasture of three years of built-up winter bedding

Logan

• prepped and painted board fences and barn trim at the Valley Barn
• helped Caitanya Bhagavat with fencing and upgrade work at Nandagram

Caitanya Bhagavat

• put up posts, gates, and fencing around our loafing shed in Nandagram to create a geriatric area for Tulasi, a 15-year-old retired milking cow. The veterinarian came to look at her and thinks it won’t be long before she goes down. She is in the company of her old herd mates Ganga and Punya. She is listening to Srila Prabhupada’s chanting and lectures, drinking charanamrita, and receiving Govardhan dust on her head daily.
• removed two trees that came down in a storm on fence lines in both Nandagram and Bahulaban. All fences and gates have been repaired. All the cows were safe.
• cut several dead standing locust trees from the Bahulaban forest for fence posts then brought to the Nandagram to be used to complete the new bullpen breeding area using high tensile wire and barbed wire for fencing.
• created a new rotational grazing area for Madhu the bull alongside his pen. He now has more pasture for running, playing, and grazing.
• added 3,000 feet of new barbed wire to the existing fences at Nandagram and Bahulaban to increase the height of the fence that will protect the cows and oxen.
• and Logan disassembled the old ox paddock in Bahulaban. The wire was wrapped up and the t-posts removed from the ground to be reused for the Nandagram bullpen.
• performed a daily cow check for the 17 cows at Bahulaban and 18 cows at Nandagram. This involves counting them to make sure everyone is present and to monitor their health.
• weekly mowing and weed-whacking at Nandagram.

Suchandra

• Community Garden:
  • planted sunflowers, zinnias, sweet corn, watermelon, beets, carrots, lettuce, spinach, and swiss chard
  • put in a second round of winter squash and green beans
  • sprayed potatoes with organic bug repellent to get rid of potato beetles, and sprayed vegetables and flowers with copper zinc to prevent fungi and diseases
  • staked tomatoes
  • replaced bad tomato plants with good ones bought from coop
  • sprinkled Epsom salt weekly onto soil of vegetables
  • weeded potatoes
  • picked two batches of basil and 400 big marigolds
• Teaching Garden:
  • planted herb bed with parsley, thyme, rosemary, sage, mint, cilantro, etc.
  • planted beans (for teepee), bitter melon, purple fountain grass, and Mandevilla vining plants (on pavilion)
  • spread mulch in walkways throughout front beds
  • weeded lily beds weekly
  • harvested 6,500 small marigolds, 200 lilies, 30 zinnias, 50 snapdragons, and four batches of mint

Mukunda & Lila (at the Nandagram Garden) 

• Harvested and delivered to temple kitchen:
  • kale – 5.75 Lbs
  • black raspberry – 1.25 Lb.
  • hot pepper – .81 Lb.
  • zucchini squash – 4 Lb.
  • yellow summer squash – 2.25 Lb.

Radhanath das (at Vidya’s Garden)

• planted three 50’ rows of green beans, put down ground cover, and fenced it in
• weeded the three perennial beds, asparagus, and lilies, and mulched one of them with newspaper and hay
• weeded, mowed, and weed-whacked.
• pruned tomatoes and successfully kept a blight of black dots at bay.
• planted cucumbers, but they turned yellow and rotted, most likely due to some sort of fungus
• turned the compost and kept building it with the weeds and cuttings out of the garden
• harvested and delivered to Radha Vrindaban Chandra’s Temple:
  • asparagus – 4 bundles
  • green beans – 76 lb
  • basil – 6 batches
  • hot peppers – 2 batches
  • peony – 160
  • lilies – 320
  • marigolds – 3,575

Ranaka

• Tejo has nearly completed the upgrade to the Nandagram water system, including installing a new submersible pump for the Garden House.
• Tejo also finished work on the Nandagram Field House which included:
  • installing a new electric breaker box for the water system
  • installing a new water heater
  • repairing the electric, lighting, spout, shower head, lavatory faucet, and fan motor in the downstairs bathroom.
  • repairing lighting, bath tub, rebuilt the toilet, and installing a new shower door in the upstairs bathroom.
  • upgrading the kitchen lighting
  • hooking up a dryer and washer
  • servicing the A/C, heating unit, and evaporator

Announcement: Kalindi, a 19-year-old retired Holstein previously residing at the Valley Barn, died May 22, 2018. A few years ago she had one of her eyes removed due to cancer, but went on to live a happy, peaceful life for several more years, which is not always the case for cows with this condition.

2. Update on the NV50 Festival in September

Jamuna Jivani gave a brief update on the current plans for the NV50 event planned for September. In addition to honoring the past, members of the board suggest elements of the festival should also appreciate the current residents and projects in New Vrindaban, as well as offer opportunities for participants to envision the next 50 years. Jamuna Jivani will share this with the NV50 organizing committee.

3. European ISKCON Farm Conference and GEN training

Kalakantha invited ECO-V to send representation to the upcoming ISKCON European Farm Conference at Karuna Bhavan in Scotland, as well as a training with the Global Ecovillage Network (GEN) at their world headquarters in Findhorn. The GEN training is September 5, and the conference is September 7-9. There was a general agreement among the board members that ECO-V could send up to two representatives. Ranaka will share the info with the ECO-V staff to see if anyone would like to go.

Here’s a link to the ECO-Vrindaban website.

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